Deklan's Birth Story

Birthdate: December 29^th, 2012 at 7:40am

Two weeks before my due date I was at the midwives and asked if they would check me to see how much I was dilated. I was only a 1 and he was still pretty high. The following week I was told I was at a 2. I was getting a little concerned since we were moving on the 22^nd and with Christmas coming up. And my insurance changed on December 31^st. That meant that if I didn’t have him by the end of 2012 that my birthing plan needed to change (meaning I’d have to go to the hospital and maybe have a different doctor) and I wouldn’t have nearly as good of coverage. So I was praying for this little guy to arrive ASAP.

I had a doctor’s appointment on Friday December 28^th (my due date) and was told then that I was only a 1. I guess they were wrong the week before. I started to cry. I was also sick and hadn’t been sleeping the past few days. My midwife wouldn’t strip my membranes because I guess they only do that if you are a 3 or a 4. But she gave me the option of going into the hospital to get a prostaglandin gel insert. I declined, went home and researched, cried a little more, and then called the midwives to see if it was too late for the gel. They told me to come right in. I went into the hospital after 3pm, left around 5pm and started having contractions on the drive home. They were off and on for the rest of the night. I was up most of the night, but by about 4:45am I woke James and told him that this was the real thing and we had better get moving. (That is when the midwife said we would record labor starting for real). James showered, then I took a bath and then showered. The boys woke up then too (sorry mom). We called the midwife at about 5:45am and she asked when I wanted to come in, I told her we better come right away because my last kid came fast.

We met her at the birthing center at 6:15am.  She checked me. James and I think she said I was at a 5. She then asked what I wanted to do and I asked if she would start filling the tub. (It is my preferred location to labor). I climbed in, moaned a lot, James cried a little, and things got moving. I snacked a little and drank lots of water, but mostly I just rolled my head from side to side and moaned. It was only the 3 of us in the entire birthing center, so it was really quiet (or peaceful as James put it. Somehow I don’t think we were having the same experience at that time.)

My midwife was fantastic. Her name was Shaina. She let me take charge of the entire experience and that was great. She let me tell her when it was time to push and tell her what I needed from her. She was ready to step in at any point, but I love that I was in control. It was a little too quiet, so I asked her to turn on the jets to muffle my own screams. (Yes, I was still in the tub. I did not necessarily intend to have a water birth, but I was not about to move, so a water birth was happening.) Then right after she turned on the jets I started pushing and broke my own water (never done that before). Then I had what felt like a 3 minute break in between contractions. It was weird, but appreciated. Then I screamed a lot more and baby boy was here. 7:40am.

The midwife who was acting as assistant got there right as he was being set on my chest. When it was time to get out of the tub to do all that lovely after-birth business, they handed the baby to James. He says that was cool because they usually take the baby away to do all that baby stuff and then we see him when he’s clean. We got lots of snuggles with a gooey baby. A little later they did weigh him and do all that baby stuff. He was 9lbs 3oz and 21 inches long. My biggest baby so far.

Then I nursed him and he nursed like a champ from the get-go. We were given a little time to snuggle him and relax and then they asked for his name. Umm……. We could not decide. Finally we were told we could leave and just call them on Monday to let them know. We stayed another hour trying to pick one and then gave up and decided to go see our boys. We left at 11am to go home.

My mom made a “Welcome Home” Sign that made it all seem so real that we had JUST had a baby and we were bringing him home. First thing Ezra said to me was, “Your belly is still big.” So sweet. Thanks Ez. Makai was very interested in the baby. Ezra didn’t really like him.

The next few days were spent full of tantrums and confusion. Ezra didn’t understand why I was always holding the baby and Makai only wanted daddy and nothing to do with mommy. Though Makai did love to hold the baby. It took a few days to get Ezra to even hold him. By Tuesday, January 1^st, we officially named him Deklan Steele Tressler. Deklan was just a name we both didn’t hate and many people recommended and Steele is a family name on James’ side.

All in all things went well. I didn’t have to deal with my insurance changing, we got all moved in before he came and I had my best birthing experience so far. The recovery has been good and the adjustment to 3 kids has been easier on me then adjusting to 2. Not to say it’s all fun and games. Last night I had all 3 kids screaming at the same time and I felt like I was going crazy, but emotionally I am doing okay.

Deklan is a sweet baby. If he’s not being held or sleeping, he’s crying, so it’s hard to get things done, but we’re surviving and he’s cute, so it’s okay.

Can’t believe we have 3 crazy boys now!

Welcome to our wild family Dek-O. We love you!

Meeting Deklan for the first time. (Don't mind my "dandruff" It was snowing :)

Our first family picture about 6 hours after he was born. I don't have the pic from the camera we were actually looking at lol.

Loved his curls right from the start :)